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There's only a few days left to spend your old pound coins

Posted on Wednesday, October 11, 2017 by Pat Ferguson

GETTYOld pound coin will cease to be legal tender on October 16

The Post Office is also expected to accept the old coins.

From midnight on Sunday, October 15, the round pound will lose its legal tender status, meaning stores cannot hand out old pound coins as change and can refuse to accept them as payment. Speaking to the Express & Star, he said: "We will still be accepting them as long as the bank takes them from us".

The new 12-sided £1 coin became legal tender on 28 March 2017 and now with one billion coins having passed through the Royal Mint production line, it's time to say farewell to its predecessor.

Poundland, a chain of shops where nearly all items cost £1, extended the period during which its customers would still be able to pay with the old coin until October 31.

Poundland, which has outlets in Accrington and Burnley, was the first retailer to announce it will accept the old coins until October 31 at all stores.

Around 1.2 billion old round coins have been withdrawn from circulation but about 500 million are remaining with less than a week to go.

And a trade association representing small shops has advised its members to continue accepting the round coins to provide a "useful community service" to customers. After that time, businesses can stop accepting it and will not automatically be giving it as change for notes.

The UK's largest retailer, Tesco, said earlier this week that it would allow its shoppers to pay with the round pound coins at tills and self-service machines for an extra week in apparent defiance of the 15 October deadline the Royal Mint has imposed.

Consumers who find old pound coins after the deadline can take them to any Post Office branch and deposit them into high street bank accounts. People will still be able to deposit the old coins into any of their usual high street bank acco unts through the Post Office.

Baroness Neville Rolfe, commercial secretary to the Treasury, said: "Our message is clear - if you have a round one pound coin sitting at home or in your wallet, you need to spend it or return it to your bank before October 15".

The new pound coin has also been hailed as the most secure in the world, on their website, The Royal Mint said: "Its distinctive shape makes it instantly recognisable, even by touch".